Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

scythians in the longue durée
successful to force the Dacians to sue for peace. But it was an uneasy peace and the
new emperor Trajan, who came to power in ad 98, decided that the only solution
was for Dacia to be conquered and brought within the empire. It took two hard
fought campaigns, in ad 101–2 and ad 106–7, to accomplish this. During this time
the Roxolani fought on the Dacian side and at Trajan’s triumph in ad 107 captive
Roxolani were paraded alongside Dacians. A detachment of heavily armed Roxalanian
cavalry is depicted in flight on Trajan’s Column, the victory monument erected
in the Roman forum. Roman citizens now for the first time had a clear image of the
Sarmatian barbarians.
12.5 To celebrate Trajan’s victories over the Dacians a celebratory column was erected in the Forum at
Rome. It recorded episodes from the conflict. One scene shows heavily armoured Sarmatian cavalry,
most likely Roxolani, fleeing from Roman cavalry.
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